Local & Regional

8:16 am

Sat August 9, 2014

DA Says Trooper Justified in Fatal Shooting

DELAWARE, Okla. (AP) — The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says a trooper has been found to have been justified when he shot and killed a man in the town of Delaware in Nowata County.

The OHP said Friday that Trooper Jerrod Martin was returned to active duty after District Attorney Kevin Buchanan ruled that Martin was justified in shooting 35-year-old Joshua Stand.

Authorities have said Martin was on duty when he shot Stand several times on June 16th after Stand pulled a knife from his pocket and took a step toward Martin.

A letter from Buchanan to Oklahoma Department of Public Safety Chief Rick Adams notes that an autopsy found that Stand was in a state of "acute methamphetamine intoxication" when he was shot and that Stand was behaving erratically before the shooting.